Cable operators have widely deployed high-speed data services on cable television systems. These data services allow subscriber-side devices, such as personal computers, to communicate over an ordinary cable TV network Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) cable through a cable modem. The cable modem communicates with a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), which connects the cable TV network to a data network, such as the Internet.
Modular CMTSs (M-CMTSs) have been developed to improve scaling and for other reasons. These modular systems typically include an M-CMTS core device implementing a subset of DOCSIS protocols (such as Media Access Control (MAC) layer, etc.) and one or more remote PHYs such as an Edge Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (EQAM) implementing the remaining DOCSIS protocols (such as the PHYsical layer (PHY), etc.) These EQAMs generally include modulation devices for modulating downstream traffic to the cable modems or demodulation devices for demodulating upstream traffic from the cable modems. The M-CMTS core and the EQAMs may use a Downstream External Physical Interface (DEPI) and Upstream External Physical Interface (UEPI) to transport downstream user data and upstream user data respectively.
These M-CMTS cores and EQAMs generally communicate with each other over tunnels extending over the DEPI. To establish these tunnels, the M-CMTS core needs to be aware of EQAM parameters, such as the EQAM IP address, prior to DEPI control plan setup. One partial solution is to initially provision the M-CMTS core with the EQAM IP address and other necessary EQAM parameters; however, with this partial solution, the M-CMTS core can lose the ability to set up new tunnels if there is a dynamic change to the EQAM IP address or other EQAM parameters. The disclosure that follows solves this and other problems.